216 memoirs of the carnegie museum 



Series C. Proteroglypha. 

 Subfamily Elapin^ Boulenger. 



Genus Elaps Schneider. 

 75. Elaps colombianus sp. nov. 



Seven upper labials, third and fourth bordering the orbit; snout broad and 

 rounded, not projecting; sixth and seventh labials the largest of the series; rostral 

 just visible from above, much broader than deep; internasals much shorter and 

 narrower than prefrontals; first lower labials in contact behind the symphysial; 

 posterior nasal in contact with the preocular. Eye two-thirds to three-quarters 

 as long as its distance from the mouth; frontal once and a quarter to once and two- 

 fifths as long as broad, much broader than the supraoculars, slightly shorter than 

 its distance from the end of the snout (longer than this distance in the young speci- 

 men No. 2031), much shorter than the parietals; parietals longer than their distance 

 from the internasals; one 'pre- and two postoculars; temporals 1, 1; third upper 

 labial larger than the fourth; four lower labials in contact with the anterior chin- 

 shields, which are a little shorter than the posterior. 



Scales in 15 rows; anal divided; gastrosteges 187-207; urosteges in 33-44 pairs. 



Body with 12 to 14 black rings, three to four scales wide, edged with narrow 

 yellow rings one scale wide; the latter margined with narrow irregularly outlined 

 black rings. The last are variably developed, from a row of scales tipped with 

 black, to two or three rows of all black scales. The red interspaces are more than 

 twice as long as the length of the black triads, with usually black tipped scales. 

 Top of the head black from snout to parietals; posterior edges of parietals, the 

 temporals, fifth, sixth, and part of seventh upper labials crossed by a yellow band, 

 which passes partly or completely around the lower jaw and is widest at the sides 

 of the head. Anterior half of lower jaw black. The first black annulus is separated 

 from the parietals by not more than one scale. A narrow black ring is only faintly 

 indicated behind this first or nuchal annulus. The last annulus of the body crosses 

 the anal scales. On the tail are four to six black annuli, separated by narrow red 

 spaces, in which all the scales may be black-margined, or the central scales are 

 black, forming a narrow black bar which may extend only to the sides or across 

 the lower surface of the tail. The tail pattern is, thus, a broad black annulus, a 

 narrow red ring, a narrow black cross-bar or ring, a narrow red ring, a broad black 

 annulus, etc. 



This species seems not distantly related to Elaps fulvius (Linnseus) . 



